RINGO STARR AND HIS ALL-STARR BAND
Benaroya Hall, Seattle
October 11, 2022
by Judy Loomis-Grover
Ringo Starr looked and sounded as young and healthy as ever in Seattle last night on his first concert after a bout with COVID canceled 5 concerts on the Canadian leg of his tour. The 82-year-old bounced out on stage with his usual energy to greet a crowd of enthusiastic fans, many of whom wore Ringo Starr or Beatles shirts and hats in anticipating of seeing the former Beatle in person. Seattle’s Benaroya Hall was an elegant and accommodating venue for the concert, and the stage was beautifully backdropped with stars and sunflowers. The sound was a bit muddy at first, but it cleared up and filled the hall to the rafters with joy.
But the show wasn’t all about Ringo. His current “All Starr Band” consists of a host of phenomenal musicians who can be called legends in their own right: Steve Lukather, Warren Ham (TOTO), Colin Hay (Men at Work), Edgar Winter, Hamish Stuart (Average White Band) and Greg Bissonette. These artists surprised many audience members with renditions their own bands’ hits, including “Free Ride,” “Rosanna,” “Land Down Under,” and “Cut the Cake.” This gave the show variety and appeal to a wider audience than just the fans of 50’s/60’s style rock-n-roll that are the bread and butter of a classic, Beatles-centric concert (at least this Gen-Xer’s 80’s-loving heart was pleased to hear the MAW and Toto hits!)
In fact, while the Starr of the show (still recuperating and needing a rest, perhaps) took a break, Winter virtually stole the show with his 11+-minute, virtuosic performance of “Frankenstein,” which wowed the crowd with Winter’s keyboard, sax and percussion skills (is there anything this man CAN’T play?). Winter and Bissonette echoed back and forth on percussion; then Bissonette took over the drums with a bombastic, triumphant solo that brought cheers and whoops from the audience as well as Winter himself. While Ringo Starr might be the world’s most famous drummer, he may have been upstaged by this guy back in the day!
Still, it was Ringo who brought the show together with his wit, brotherly love for the band and customary, crowd-pleasing hits including “It Don’t Come Easy,” “Photograph,” and the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine,” “What Goes On” and “With A Little Help From My Friends.” Ringo introduced this final number by saying that if anyone in the audience didn’t know it, they were in the wrong place and perhaps they were waiting for Led Zeppelin, to which the band responded by playing a few bars of “Whole Lotta Love” by way of punchline. This brought quite a few chuckles from the audience, especially when Ringo went on to joke that Robert Plant was in the audience!
The epic, 2-plus hour show wrapped up with an impromptu group sing of “Give Peace and Chance” – a perfect ending to a concert that was rousing in its energy, impressive in its musicianship and filled with Ringo Starr’s signature Peace-and-Love spirit.
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